October 02, 2009

In gift wrap emergencies when you've got the present but need some wrapping, here's an idea for turning a magazine page into a bow. There may be better ways to stick this thing together, but I used what I had on hand: staples and adhesive glue dots. Double stick tape or brads should work, too.

Cut a magazine page lengthwise into 9 strips, 3/4" wide. Leave 3 of the strips full length. Cut one inch off 3 of the strips. Cut two inches off 2 of the strips. Cut the last strip down to 3 1/2" long.

Twist each strip to form a loop at both ends and staple it in the center. Shape the last, short strip into a circle and secure it with a glue dot.

Layer the three longest pieces on top of each other, spacing them evenly and securing each with a glue dot. Add the next two groups of pieces, doing the same. And finally, stick the loop into the center.

Use other papers, like a map of your city. Here's Chicagoland. Anybody see your street?

This is one of the most practical bits of recycling I've seen in a long time! Since the stapler was missing and the glue dots were missing, too (hmm - I sense a trend!), I just used double-stick tape, which seemed to work. Great job - your site totally rocks!

This is wonderful - thanks for sharing! For 5 yrs now, I have not bought gift wraping paper. I use cereal boxes or any other box that comes from my kitchen pantry. This year I can embellish my eco-friendly holiday packaging with these awesome handmade bows - Yay!

I printed out the instructions on your website to send to my sister, then trimmed them up to mail. I made my best bow yet with the strips left over! The white with your orange header, plus little snippets of your sponsors/fabric/ etc mixed in is quite fetching! Fortunatley, "being loopy" is the key to pretty bows! :-)

When I was a kiddo, we had a bow maker that used a plastic piece with a pointy tip for the attacher thing, which sat upon a green base. The base was shaped much like a plus sign with only three arms instead of four. These worked as storage for the little plastic tacks. We used a long piece of that plasticky ribbon and just turned the ribbon and pushed it down on the pointed part of the plastic tack thing as we went. It worked really well and was fun to make bows with. I was so excited to see a new method for these as my mom's bow maker has been long lost.

What an excellent idea. I probably HAVE one of those old bow-makers around - maybe I'll try with that. Because I don't have glue dots around, and don't the staples get a little bulky? AND this is an Ab Fab idea. I'm going to recruit the kids. They get very enthusiastic.Thanks!!

Hi Alex. The staples didn't seem to get bulky, since I stapled randomly and they all ended up in different places by accident. I don't think they were actually stacked on top of each other. You could use double-stick tape to stick the pieces together, too. But the bow-maker sounds fun! Do you have to use ribbon (or something that's one long, continuous piece) in it?

Anonymous, thanks for the link to more samples. Cool; hadn't seen those. Looks like a brad works well, too.

These are fantastic - I have spent a large part of the day creating them from everything from scrapbook paper to our local telephone book! I fastened them with staples and a brad through the middle - looks excellent especially with a blingy brad.

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Amazing! I cannot wait to give this a try. This week is "no television week" at my daughters school. I think we will have one night of family bow making! Thanks so much for making this project look so simple :-)

This is my first comment but I feel like I should have been making loads of comments now because I always like your stuff. Maybe comments are for more hit and miss blogs than your own. When you maintain a consistent level of high quality output I reckon people are less inclined to comment because they have come to expect it from you. Just a theory.christmas gifts

Terrific idea!I use blueprint paper for wrapping presents because we have so much of it at work...i hate just sending it out for recycling. anyway, i shall make several bows this year with it! it will be perfect to go with wrapping instead of buying ribbon...i'll forward a pic if you wish!

OMG, these are gorgeous! I love the idea of repurposing paper you already have! Gonna make a motherload of these. My mom usually sticks me on gift-wrapping duty when I go back home for Christmas! These will come in handy!

I've been reading your blog off and on, being partial to orange myself (Fiskateer). I had tried these bows once, and I flopped. But your tutorial is excellent, I should be able to successfully make one. TFS with the Fiskateers this weekend!kimberlee #2494PS--do not let anyone borrow your nice scissors!! :P LOL

WOWeeeeeeeeeeee! You made that look easy but I most especially love that you are using something that has been used before! Seeing the words show through makes it really fun and exciting! Amazing work :)

Yep, and here is another Fisk-a-teer who loved you bow turorial! My husband asked if I plan to make all of our Christmas bows. At first I didn't think so, but I am thinking that since we draw names and don't do a whole lot of gifts in our family, I just might try it! Thanks so much!

Oh, while I was here I thought I would become a follower of your great blog!